Interesting reader mail

[cupcake_goth]

This is one of the emails that turned up in the Gothic Charm School inbox this morning:

It was recently brought to my attention by way of a post on one of my forums that
you will be holding a tea party in a cemetery to celebrate your book release.

I just wanted to say that I think this is highly disrespectful and tacky. And before
you judge me to be some uptight soccer mom who came across your site, let me tell
you that I am in your target audience. I am into both romantic goth style and spent
a good number of years this way and also and into lolita street fashion. Your book
is something that I would have picked up in a store to keep on my bookshelf/coffee
table and encouraged my friends to buy as well. However I don't think I will be
doing anything of the sort. I am saddened to see that you show such little respect
for the people of the cemetery.

Hmmm. I need to double-check some of my sources, but from what I remember, the big public/non-churchyard cemeteries were, to some extent, intended as large public parks. Or at least, they were certainly treated that way for a very long time. I am planning on answering her, but like I said, I need to check my sources and do some more research.

Behind the cut-tag, my to-do list. Not terribly exciting, I realize, but good heavens, I need one.


- Laundry.
- Shorten one of the hoop skirts so it's the right length for under the stripy skirt mineke made me.
- Figure out what I'm wearing for the course of the NYC trip.
- Write an actual answering questions -type GCS post.
- Make sure all the ingredients are ready for tonight's dinner. (Cobb salad, which means oh right, I need to cook bacon.)
- DYE HAIR.
- Aspirin mask.
- EMAIL AGENT.
- Send Bluejay more fic links. (muah-ha-ha-ha!)
- Send thank you mail to Miss K. at Aromaleigh for mentioning the GCS book on her blog. DO NOT browse the Aromaleigh site, as I do not have spending money for makeup at the moment.
- Upper arm exercises. (Now if they'd just start showing some results soon, that would be lovely.)


::siiiiiiiiigh:: Don'wanna. Would rather nap, and watch movies with the Stroppy One.

Comments

[torreybird.livejournal.com]

Right after Ed died, the grief was too fresh for me to have enjoyed a tea among the other dead. Though that says more about my grieving than about the "proper" respect due to mourners! Further, it is my understanding that there is often quite a distance between the recent graves and the promoted picnic/gathering sites in an established cemetary, to avoid just these sorts of clashes.

On the other hand, churchyards in villages and towns would bury the dead and baptise the babies on the same grounds they would gather the congregation to celebrate. Widows and mourners were treated with respect, and it was socially permitted to excuse oneself.

[rocket-jockey.livejournal.com]

Most of the churches my Spouse and I visited in Ireland had people buried under the floorstones and entombed in the walls. People have parties and weddings and baptisms and Sunday mass in the buildings, standing and sitting atop the memorial stones.

And even in this country, youi see the same thing - the first college I attended was founded in the 19th century. The founding president of the college and his wife were buried under the central foundation stone for the then-new main building, right beneath the main auditorium housing the pipe-organ. Or Adlersheim Chapel in Juneau, where the founding priest is buried beneath the altar and the second priest is buried under the picnic lawn.